Braidlocs update

I realized I have not posted about Micheline’s braidlocs in forever…well, I haven’t really posted anything in forever, but that’s beside the point.  ;-)

I wanted to add a recent photo of her so you can see how much they have grown and filled out compared to when they were first locked.  I am loving how easy to care for they are but am sad that we are still working on length. Micheline has some sensory issues and last year decided that chewing and breaking off her locs would be a way to satisfy some oral issues.  As a result, she had some that were about 7 inches long, some that were an inch or two, and then some along her neck that she totally broke off down at her scalp. So, I had no choice but to trim all of them so they wouldn’t look quite so unkempt.

To say I was a tad bit upset at the time is probably an understatement, but she is slowly regrowing them and we are working on getting length again so that hopefully sometime in the future we will have more styling options than we presently do.  This photo was taken 6 months ago and although they have grown a bit since then, I have also trimmed them to even them up so they really aren’t much longer now than they are in this picture.

I had an African-American woman at the airport last year come up to me and say, “Who did her Sisterlocs?” When I told her they weren’t real Sisterlocs but were actually started with Braidlocs and that I was the one who did them, she said, “Do you mind if I take a closer look? I’m a hairdresser myself.” My heart was pounding, but she looked closely at them, felt them, and then nodded at me with a smile and said, “you do good work.” Let’s just say I floated out of there. Yes, dear lady, you made my day.

Where’s the dictionary?

For those of you who aren’t blessed to be around Micheline on a daily basis, you miss all of her gaffes when it comes to the English language. Just last week she shared with us, “I’m lovin’ it…that’s McDonald’s slongo.”

I don’t know about you, but I personally think slongo is a much more interesting word than slogan. Maybe she’s on to something. If Frindle can make it, why not slongo?

It’s alive!

Well it isn’t Easter Sunday, but this blog is being resurrected after being in the blogworld grave for the past year. I refrained from blogging last year as it just seemed impossible. How do you write about your life when you aren’t allowed to write about your foster children or post any pictures of them? Not to mention the pain in your heart at having some removed from your home against all of your wishes! I didn’t want to blog a year of whining, so I chose to write nothing at all.

Thankfully that problem is being resolved. We adopted one of our sweethearts last month, and the other will be adopted by us this month, leaving me free to post and write just about anything I dang please without the state stepping in and shaking their finger at me. The one who is being adopted this month? Peanut! Yes, she indeed came back to us!

For Christmas a few years ago, my daughter scrapbooked my entire year of blogging for me. It is a gift that I treasure. Just last week, she gave me a few last pages from that year that she had not finished, and as I read over them, they inspired me to start writing again. So, I guess I’m back. As my kids are my favorite topic, they just might want to run for cover while they still can.

Happy Birthday 4 years later

Four years ago I started this blog on my birthday and wrote this post. Looking back over the past four years, some things have changed and some have stayed the same.

Pyro boy is still fascinated with fire, so our fireplace continues to remain dormant. He still has no internal locus of control and just last week tried to steal $100 of my grocery cash and thought I wouldn’t notice. I still have children who stick their hands under the bathroom door with a “Mom, can you see my fingers?” as they seek for attention, but for the most part they are different children than the ones who were doing it four years ago. I probably have a few more aches and pains than I did four years ago, I have a few more children, and I still don’t get the time alone with my husband that I would prefer. I need the Weight Watchers muffin rather than a piece of cake even more than I did four years ago, but I’m working on it.

Life is still good, the gospel is of course still very true, and my gratitude for my Savior and his atonement has grown in leaps and bounds as I have experienced trials and loss of loved ones. My love for my family and appreciation for eternal relationships has deepened even as my patience may have decreased. Yes, I guess it is safe to say I am grumpier in my old age even though I promised myself when I was much younger that I would not allow that to happen.

I have been blessed with a new daughter-in-law, a new son-in-law, and a new granddaughter. We have had 5 foster children come and go, and have recently adopted our 6th foster child who the Lord placed in my heart almost 5 years before her arrival. It was a long wait, but worth every minute as we adore her and her sweet personality. She has a set of lungs and a piercing scream that can break glass when she is upset, but she can be a sweetheart as well. The other night she was awake from 3 to 5 a.m. and I was less than amused. As I lay down on her bed, however, to encourage her to go back to sleep she patted me on the face and said, “Mama, you are a rock star!”  Not sure what recesses of her brain that emerged from, but I’ll take it.

Last year at this time we traveled to  the Mesa, Arizona Temple to be sealed to Caleb. It was a  beautiful way to have a White Christmas, as well as a wonderful way to end 2010 and start 2011. He came home from China with no knowledge of God or Christ, but over the past few years chose to take the missionary lessons, pray to know for himself if the gospel was true, and then said he was ready to take the next step of being sealed to our family. We have not wanted to push him because we wanted him to take those steps when he felt ready and not have him do it because he thought we expected it of him.

If my kids thought I was older than dirt four years ago, they probably think I am a dinosaur fossil this year. Never did I dream I would be my age and raising a 3-year-old, but God clearly has a sense of humor. As a friend pointed out to me once, “Abraham’s wife Sarah was a heck of a lot older than you are, so you have nothing to complain about.” Sarah laughed about it, so maybe I should as well…and count my blessings that at least my last one didn’t have to come out of this body.

In a few days we will be welcoming in 2012. Four years ago I added a header to this blog that asked, “Are we having fun yet?” Yes…yes, indeed we are. If you want to come along, I will start blogging again this next year. Buckle up and hold on, because it promises to be a wild ride.

My baby girl is coming home!

The Sunday before Easter my phone rang at 6 a.m. I was not amused since weekends are my only time to sleep past 5:45, and my alarm was not due to go off for another hour. I groggily answered it only to hear, “Are you awake? I know it’s early still out there but I need to talk to you.”

It was Peanut’s cousin and she told me she had been up all night with Peanut who had a tummy ache and who had cried all night. She had also thrown a two hour tantrum the evening before and her cousin said, “I have been trying to tell myself that I can do this, but I can’t. I just can’t. Besides that, she loves you, you love her, and she needs to come back to you.”

With those words, I was suddenly wide awake. Did I actually hear what I thought I heard? Yep, she said she was sending her back. I wanted to shout “Hallelujah! Thank you God!”, and a variety of other praises of gratitude, but instead I just tried to calmly listen and empathize with how she was feeling. After all, she was hurting inside and it took alot for her to call me and tell me honestly what she was feeling. She said she had not told anyone else yet, but that just by telling me the weight of the world felt like it had been lifted off of her shoulders.

I have hesitated to post anything for fear things would not work out. After all, the agency handling the out of state adoption could still place her with someone else if they insist on keeping Peanut with her brother. I cannot take him. I have pondered and prayed about it and he is just not meant to come to our home.

This week, however, a plethora of prayers have been answered as we found it is pretty much set that she will be rejoining our family in early July. Her brother’s previous foster mother has consented to take him back as well so both children will return home to familiar places and routines.

Six months ago I wrote this as my heart was breaking:
Tonight at dinner she said, “Mama,I will miss you when I am gone. After I have stayed there for a very long time will you come get me?” Oh my dear one, if you only knew how very much I wish I could.

If the caseworker doesn’t end up flying to get the kids, there is a chance that I might be flying them home. So yes, my dear Peanut, after you have stayed there for a very long time, I would be willing to do almost anything to get on a plane and come get you. Thank you, God, for allowing my baby girl to come back home!

Catholic school drop-out

Well, I am sad to say that Peanut only lasted a day and a half in Catholic school. Not surprising since she is only 4 years old and her cousin put her in kindergarten. I can’t imagine going from a special needs preschool for children with language delays to a kindergarten classroom in the middle of their school year. I mean, these kids are starting to read and write and she struggles to even write her name. Have no idea what her cousin was thinking, but I feel like Peanut was set up to fail before she ever walked into the classroom.

When Peanut doesn’t like the way things are going, she lets others know. This time she did it by biting her teacher. I know, not funny, but I have to confess I chuckled when I heard the news. She used to bite my other kids quite regularly when she first came to our home so I know biting is often her M.O. for saying “I don’t like this”, or “I am quite ticked off at the moment.” She hasn’t bitten in our home for quite a long time, however, so I know she must have been feeling very overwhelmed.

Off to school in New York

Peanut started school this morning in New York. She is attending a private Catholic school where she wears a uniform. Her cousin, D., promised me photos and said her friend sent them from her phone but I didn’t receive anything.

D. called me this morning and told me how it went. I appreciate the phone calls as it eases my fears of how Peanut is doing. Peanut has been calling herself, sometimes twice a day, but she can’t carry on much of a conversation so it often ends up with me asking yes/no questions. Today, D. said that Peanut was a bit afraid when she got to school and started to cry but that she and her husband and older daughter all went in with her. Apparently Peanut’s teacher is the same one that D.’s daughter had for kindergarten almost 20 years ago. D.’s daughter told the class that, and they all thought that was pretty neat.

Peanut took a Lunchable for her lunch and some oranges and goldfish crackers for her snack. D. laughed and said, “The school hasn’t called me yet so I guess she is doing OK.” D. promised to keep me in the loop when Peanut moved and so far she has kept her promise. She said I am more than welcome to fly out sometime and visit her and is willing to send Peanut to us during summer break.

So, even though we are still heartbroken at having lost our sweetie from our family, we hope to be able to always be part of her extended family.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Outlaws out West